The Children of the Soul Blade
by Theaja
Summary: When four descendants of well-known Wildborns get spirit animals, they must fight a new enemy team by the name of the Spirit People. They wants to get rid of Spirit Animals so all the world's people are equal. With the Spirit Animal population quickly declining, the marked need a new weapon to protect the Spirit Animals; but only the best of the Marked can wield the Soul Blade.
1. Jewel

Chapter One: Jewel

Jewel Cadwell was never scared, but right now, she certainly felt her heart beat faster when she turned a corner only to find another dead end in the never-ending maze of alleyways.

_Why do I have such terrible map skills?_ She thought to herself as she continued looking at the large map in her hand that was filled with pen marks and scribbles. Her reddish brown hair fell in her face as she traced the path she had taken with her finger. The sun was going down and she was going to miss dinner. She didn't want to admit it, but she was lost. This usually happened after arguments with her uncle, which was almost everyday. But getting lost had never been this bad. Usually, Jewel found her way out of Amaya's many streets after about thirty minutes. But it has been almost an hour and she still found herself going through what looked like to be the same path.

Calling her uncle _definitely_ wasn't an option. He would only ridicule her. Jewel wasn't in the mood, especially after the fight that got her out here in the first place. All she wanted to do was go outside for a walk, but her uncle just wouldn't let her. After a bit of bickering, Jewel's uncle slapped her, and told her to leave his sight. Stunned, she left the house in a rush; feeling bad for leaving her five year old sister, Nini, behind with such a monster. She missed living with her parents. The Conquerors took them away two years ago because her parents were running a top secret refugee camp for the marked. Just remembering it made her feel the pain of that slap again.

Jewel shook her head. "What's done is done. I can't go back now." She spoke aloud to herself.

But fear still gripped at her. How was she going to get home?

She looked up from her map when she suddenly felt something hard in front of her. At first, Jewel thought it was a wall, but when she looked up, her insides froze.

A man twice the size of her stared harshly at her from above; blocking the entire alleyway.

Jewel jumped back from the man's cold gaze; only to find that she was eye level with a badge that read "Amayan Police Department."

Jewel knew that she was in trouble. There's a new law in Amaya that says children under 18 cannot be outside after seven pm without a parent. Jewel had to be very convincing to get out of this one. Making the sweetest voice she could muster, Jewel looked up at the bald man's angered face. and spoke quietly. "I'm sorry sir. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm on my way home right now so if you wouldn't mind moving over just a squeeze so I could get through?"

"Come with me," He had to look down to make eye contact with her.

He gripped her arm before she could protest and began to pull her down the street.

"Hey you can't take me anywhere! Don't pull me like that!" Jewel shouted at the policeman.

"Stop fighting me or else you will be charged with resisting an arrest."

Jewel opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it.

_Well at least he can show me the way out._ She thought positively to herself.

Their walk together was silent as he pushed her onwards through the alleys. It was dark outside by the time they made it to the police station. Jewel must have really been lost in there.

The policeman held the door to the station for Jewel to walk through. She looked surprised at this, but shrugged it off and walked inside with him following behind.

The waiting room wasn't too big but it was mostly made up of chairs and tables. There was a lady sitting at the front desk. She looked up from her laptop, her mud brown eyes first meeting the police officer and then to Jewel. Her brown hair was in a messy bun and it looked like she had been at her job for a few hours. The bags under her eyes stuck out from her symmetrical face; as if they were screaming for sleep. Her face had no emotion when she spoke.

"Another one, Peter?" She asked the muscular man.

"Yep, Meg, caught her wandering the streets at seven thirty two. Could've gotten hurt," he turned his attention to Jewel. "What's your name, kid?"

"Jewel. Jewel Cadwell. Your's?"

The lady smiled. "Call me Megan."

She paused for a moment to think. "Well Jewel it looks like you're in trouble," Megan spoke with a gentle tone. "Did you hear about the new law? Children must be indoors by-"

"Yeah yeah I know I won't do it again." Peter gave her a harsh look. "Can you just let me go? I just got a little lost that's all."

"You can leave once you fill out these papers. Who is your guardian?" Megan asked as she grabbed a stack of papers from her very organized desk.

"My uncle. He doesn't live too far from here."

"Alright. Well, just write everything down there and we'll send you home with a warning."

Jewel took the papers and pen from the lady. She made sure to answer each question truthfully before finally handing it back to the her. Megan took a good look at the papers, but when she got to the back side, she raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Cadwell," She looked extremely worried. "You turned 13 in August, correct?"  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
"You wrote here that you haven't taken the Nectar yet."

"So?"

"You do know that not taking the Nectar of Ninani can lead to sickness, yes?"

"Umm…" Honestly, she had never been to a Nectar ceremony. From what she remembered, her parents didn't have spirit animals and her uncle surely didn't. She had only ever heard stories about the great beasts and how children of age must drink the Nectar. If they were Wild Born, one sip from the Nectar of Ninani would reveal their spirit animal. Jewel remembers her parents telling her how her grandmother had a mouse and that it gave her inhuman abilities. But that's all she ever knew about it. She was shut off from the magical world because her parents wanted to protect her from their secret business.

"Peter, please go get the proper things for the ceremony, and quickly! We do not have a moment to lose!" The man began to run down the hallway as soon as Megan asked.

"Wait what's going on?" Jewel was extremely confused.

"Kids age thirteen must drink the Nectar. Otherwise they will become incredibly ill and possibly become insane or hospitalized for the rest of their lives."  
"What? No one ever told me…"

Just, then, Peter rushed over to the counter with a large bird cage filled with many colorful parakeets and a flask that held a honey colored liquid. The parakeets squawked whenever he took a step.

"Here it is," Peter set the cage on the counter and uncorked the flask. He handed it to Jewel and she took it hesitantly.

Jewel eyed the liquid that moved slowly inside the bottle. It looked almost gooey.

"What am I supposed to do with this? And what's with the birds?" Jewel questioned the lady.  
"it's said that having animals around during a Nectar ceremony raises the chances of connecting with a spirit animal," She explained. "The flask in your hand holds the Nectar of Ninani. One sip will be enough."

"Okay…" Jewel slowly put the glass up to her lips. Tilting it, the taste of the Nectar poured into her mouth with flavor. The taste was incredible! Jewel thought it tasted like the popsicles her and her family used to make at home, which were always a treat. It reminded her a lot of her parents.

She removed the flask from her lips and sadly handed it back to the policeman.

"So what's supposed to happen now?" Jewel felt perfectly fine.

But then she suddenly didn't.

_Is it just me or is the room spinning?_ Her thoughts were a mess and her brain felt like it was going to burst. She fell to the floor but the spinning soon stopped. For a moment she thought it was over, until a flash of yellow light burst in front of her. Her eyes were temporarily blinded for a moment.

As the light settled, she heard the gasps of Peter and Megan as a large figure stood in front of her. It took her eyes a moment to tell what it was. Standing in front of her was a bright yellow dragon! It had blue spikes lining its chin and cheeks. Giant electric blue horns poked out of his head. Its wings matched its magnificent colors with a hook-like spike on each tip. Its spikes ran all the way down its back. The dragon appeared to be glowing. The dragon flapped its wings and stared quietly at Jewel with its emerald eyes.. It sat back on its haunches, waiting for her to stand up.

Jewel finally stood and studied the dragon. She didn't know how, but she somehow knew it was a male. Feeling an urge to do so, she put her hand gently on the dragon's forehead. An electric shock sparked Jewel's fingers for a moment.

"Ryu," she spoke the dragon's name without thinking. "His name is Ryu."


	2. Kei

Chapter 2: Kei

"Kei time to wake up! It's your first day of school!" Kei's mother shouted into his bedroom before walking back to her room.

"Ugh…" The young boy sat up. His short onyx black hair was messy this morning. He swept a hand through it before sleepily getting out of bed. He opened the curtain. The sunlight exploded into the room with a painful glare. Kei flinched and instinctively closed his eyes. He quickly closed the curtain before walking swiftly out of his bedroom door.

His hand brushed against each bamboo wall before reaching the doorway to the kitchen. Kei and his parents lived in a very small one floor house. There was his room, his parents room, and the kitchen/dining room. It wasn't a lot of space, but Kei was happy in Zhong.

He entered the tiny kitchen to find his parents sitting at the table with their breakfast in front of them. Next to them was a plate of food that had been untouched.

"Good morning Kei." His father said with a smile. His dad worked as a veterinarian for spirit animals and regular animals alike. While Kei's mother worked as one of Zhong's top doctors in the hospital a town away.

"Good morning Father, good morning Mother." He smiled back at them as he sat down to eat his breakfast with his family. "When are your next days off from work?"

"Well Kei," His mother's smile changed to a somewhat sad expression. "A lot of people need me and I can't just leave work when there are people out there dying. I don't think I'm getting a break anytime soon."

"Oh," Kei's face changed to match his mother's. "Well what about you Dad? Maybe we can go to that art museum you've been wanting to go to?"

"I wish I could Kei but like your mother, I too am very busy and I don't think I have time to do things outside of work."

"Oh." Kei tried not to show that his feelings were hurt.

They ate the rest of breakfast in silence. He was the first to finish.

"I guess I should go now. See you guys later."

"Bye, Kei." His mother tried to smile at him.

"Goodbye, Son," His dad watched him as he packed his school bag. "Have fun at school." It sounded more like an order to Kei than a suggestion.

"I'll try. Bye, Mom, bye, Dad." Kei left through the door with a heavy heart.

That was the last time he remembered seeing his mom before the Conquerors took her away at her job.

Three years later...

"Kei?" His teacher, Mr. Copperman, addressed the quiet boy at the back of the class. "What is the answer to the problem on the board?"

Kei was now a teenager. His hair was no longer short but was now long enough to cover one of his eyes. He dyed a strand of his black hair blue last month on his mother's birthday. He did that every year to remember her because blue was her favorite color.

"Umm… Is the answer 112?"

Giggles spread throughout the classroom. "I'm sorry Kei but that is incorrect. The correct answer is 56. Try to pay attention or else I will have your desk away from the window."

"Alright." Kei honestly didn't care. Ever since his mother was taken away, school had become the lowest priority on his list.

Interrupting the class's chatter, Mrs. Miza walked up and down the hallways ringing the small golden bell in her hand. It was time to go home!

Kei was the last one out the door but Mr. Copperman pulled him aside.

"Your father told me your Nectar ceremony is tonight, yes?" His teacher was a very kind man. Kei couldn't see how Mr. Copperman could put up with him.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you! I remember when I first had mine. It wasn't too big but there were plenty of animals there. The Nectar tasted delicious! I remember hoping to get a bird spirit animal but I wasn't wildborn. I have a feeling yours won't be like that. Good luck tonight, Kei."

"Thanks Mr. Copperman, but I won't get my hopes up."

"I understand. Have a nice weekend."

"You too Mr. Copperman."

Honestly, he had forgotten about the ceremony! He rushed home to find his father at the table with a small box.

"Kei! You're home." His father looked at him with great pride. "I have a small present for your ceremony. Would you like to open it?

His father gave him the box before he could answer. It was wooden with delicate engravings of animals of all species. The box was small enough to fit in his pocket. Kei ran his fingers over each engraving before carefully lifting the lid to the box. Inside was a small golden locket. Picking up the necklace, He opened the heart shaped locket to find a picture of him, his father, and his mother.

Tears welled up in Kei's eyes but he tried not to show them.

"Put it on." His dad waited expectantly.

Kei took the chain and hooked it together around his neck.

"Dad, I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"You are welcome. Now your mother can be with you at your ceremony." He gave his son a big hug. He pulled away and held Kei by the shoulders. "Now let's get you ready. Tonight is your night!"

Two hours later, Kei was fitted into a black suit that he never knew he had. His father wore a matching suit. Kei's hair was neatly combed and swept out of his face. But after a few minutes, it just fell back to where it was before. Kei made sure to wear the locket so he could have something to remember his mother by.

The ceremony was to be held at the park. He was grateful that his dad was rich enough to get a private ceremony unlike the ones his classmates went through. No one in his class had summoned a spirit animal yet. He didn't like the bratty kids in his class, but some of them were actually very kind and humble people once you got to know them.

It was dark outside by the time they made it to the park. It wasn't very far but they took too long to get ready. His father's friends were there early to help set up. They put up lanterns on the trees, set up the tables and chairs, and got the stage up. Now all they needed to do was to wait for their family to arrive. Kei only invited a few friends from school.

At seven o' clock everyone was seated and Kei was behind the stage. Two Greencloaks, a very slender man and a tall lady, arrived with the Nectar of Ninani. Kei was nervous about the ceremony.

_What if I don't summon anything? It would be so awkward! _Kei worried about what would happen for a good minute, but he began to think about if anyone in his family summoned a spirit animal before. He never asked his dad but he was pretty sure his great grandfather had a black panther. He knew that his aunt had a hummingbird. Kei remembered that his cousin had a praying mantis. Thinking back now, Kei realized that a lot of his family members had spirit animals, so his chances were pretty good. With all fear gone, he waited for his dad to say his speech and for the Greencloaks to welcome him on stage.

His dad's speech was very well written and spoke of how he was so proud of Kei and how his mother would have loved to see his ceremony. Kei smiled through the curtain.

"Ladies and gentlemen," The male Greencloak announced. "Put your hands together for Kei!"

Roars and cheers erupted from the crowd as Kei walked on stage. He looked at everyone's faces before quickly getting ushered by the male Greecloak into the center of the stage. He noticed that everyone in the crowd brought a pet to the ceremony to help him.

The cheering died down to hear what the Greencloak had to say."Okay Kei," He took out a small flask from his cloak and handed it to Kei. "This is the Nectar of Ninani. Just one sip and it will show if you are wild born. Are you ready?"

Kei looked him in the eyes. "Yes, I'm ready."

Uncorking the flask, the crowd became absolutely silent. Kei looked at the liquid that resembled honey. He tipped it into his mouth and felt the incredible taste of it. It tasted like the star fruits that grew outside of his house every summer. His mom used to harvest them and use them in everything she could. He was saddened by the flavor, for he hadn't tasted it in a long time. After one small sip, Kei put the cork back on and handed it to the Greencloak. Kei waited expectantly, unsure of what would soon happen.

Lightning struck a few feet away from the crowd.

The crowd of family and friends screamed and ran to avoid the lightning.

Another bolt hit a tree this time, sending all of the lanterns to turn off.

The female Greencloak yelled into the crowd. "Everyone calm down! The storm will only last a minute! The Nectar is working!"

Barely anyone heard her but Kei did. He was dizzy and felt as if the lightning had struck him. He shook his head and the lightning halted, but behind him arose a bright blue light. The crowd stopped screaming and stared on stage at Kei in amazement. Kei stared at the light source. It looked like a giant chasm has opened up on stage. When the "chasm" closed, everything was silent. The lanterns flickered back on. The glowing stopped, the lightning was gone, but no animal had appeared on stage. What just happened?

The crowd began to whisper and the Greencloaks looked confused.

"That's strange," The female Greencloak whispered to the other. " Everything happened normally, but where is his spirit animal?"

Kei had an idea. "No one move!" Kei still felt like he was filled with electricity, even though everything stopped. He had a feeling that there was a spirit animal.

He just couldn't see it.

He looked up for any animals in the trees, only to find that they were all scared away with the storm.

Kei figured his animal must be pretty small. He looked on the stage and bent down. With a closer inspection, right where the portal was stood a very small jumping spider. It was black and hairy with a blue mark on it's back. The mark was practically in the same shape as Kei's blue strand of hair; a lightning bolt.

"Found it!" He shouted to the crowd.

"What is it?" The male Greencloak whispered.

"A spider." Kei picked it up and the lightning feeling went away. Kei immediately knew his name as if it were a long lost memory. "His name is Karkat."

Karkat jumped from his hand and practically flew two feet up. He landed on Kei's shoulder and curiously stared at the crowd, The Greencloak jumped back and gave out a small shriek. He then realized what he had done and stood up straight as if nothing had happened.

"Well Kei, I guess that means you're wild born!"

The crowd cheered once again. Kei was so happy and extremely surprised at his animal. A spider? Who would have known!

He looked at his shoulder only to find Karkat no where to be seen.

"Karkat?" Kei frantically looked around, only to find the little spider in his suit pocket.

"Haha! I think we're gonna be good friends."

The spider crawled around in the pocket happily as Kei exited the stage, proud that he had gained a new friend.


	3. Madeleine

Chapter 3: Madeleine

As the young girl walked through the jungle, her feet instinctively pounced over each low hanging mossy branch. The orange sunset bounced off of her brown curly hair that had been neatly put into a braid hanging off her right shoulder. Her old bangs from childhood had become too long so she kept them swept back.

The fog was thick today in the jungle so the girl brought her casual jacket made from sheep's wool. She would never use sheepskin or leather for she loved all animals. She came to the jungle almost everyday, not to hunt, but to count all the animals. Madeleine Rose did this to see which ones passed away and which animals had children. The girl acted as the protector to the animals, and no one in the village went to hunt in that jungle.

Being extremely quiet, her eyes found something in the trees that she hadn't noticed before. Madeleine stopped and looked up at the brand new nest in the tree.

She grabbed her notebook from her jacket pocket. "Finally! Zina and Goko had children. Maybe their species isn't doomed after all…" She spoke to herself as she flipped to the page titled "Endangered". Underneath the title were several species with the nickname she had given the animal. She took off her bag from her shoulder and searched for a pencil to write with. She found her worn down pencil and wrote swiftly next to the names Goko and Zina.

_Egg found on October 18th. Belongs to Goko and Zina. If child survives, the population has another chance._

Closing the book and putting away her pencil, she thought about climbing the tree to see how many eggs were in there. Knowing that Goko and Zina don't trust her yet, she decided to leave them alone. She can't climb that well anyway.

Madeleine looked towards the sunset. 'It's getting late… I hope Mom and Dad aren't mad."

She made her way back to her village just before nightfall. Her village in Nilo was small and wasn't very populated. They weren't very far from the city but there were no hospitals or markets in her village. Just houses and a school.

Aside from the fact that it was bare, Madeleine's village was actually very clean and lived well. Each family had a garden with fruits and vegetables. Meat was imported from the city because the jungle had too many endangered species that the village didn't want to destroy.

Entering her home, Madeleine put down her bag and jacket in the usual place by the door and walked in. Her house was one of the bigger ones in the village and had two bedrooms, one bathroom, a dining room/kitchen, and a living room.

"Hello?" She shouted into the house.

"Maddie?" Her mom's voice rang from the living room. She preferred her nickname over her real name.

Madeleine followed the voice and found her mother in her usual spot knitting something up.

"Hey Mom." She gave her a hug. "What's that?"

"Oh I'm knitting your Dad a scarf for when he's out at work."

"It looks nice. Speaking of Dad, is he back yet?"  
"He should be home any minute. How was your day in the jungle? Anything new?"

"Actually yeah, I found out that Goko and Zina made a nest with eggs! I just don't know how many yet because they don't really trust me. I'll find out someday."

"That's great! Maybe their population can come back then."

"I hope so."

Ariel, Madeleine's twin sister, walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. They're not identical twins, but instead look nothing alike except for their faces. Madeleine is tan while Ariel is white. Ariel is fifteen minutes older than Madeleine.

"Hey Ariel," Madeleine said. "Goko and Zina had babies."

"Really? That's great!" Ariel smiled. Her strawberry brown hair was pulled into a ponytail.

She sat down with the rest of the family as they waited for their father to come home from work. He worked for the company in the city that ran the electricity to all the homes in the village. It's a very well paying job.

When their father returned home, they greeted him with hugs and told them about their day.

"How was your day, Dad?" Ariel asked.

"The usual. Just powering the tower." Their father is a very quiet man. "Are you girls ready for your Nectar ceremonies tomorrow?"

"I'm nervous but excited." Madeleine stated. "If I don't summon an animal, it will be kind of embarrassing in front of my classmates. Are you sure we can't get the private one?"

"Sorry," Her mother joined in. "But with two of you it would be too expensive to hold a private ceremony. And besides, with a public one, more people will bring their animals to help raise your chances."

"I guess." Madeleine replied.

"I can't wait! I can't wait to see if my friends get one. If I get one I hope it's an animal that fits me, but I won't get my hopes up." Ariel exclaimed.

"I hope both of you are wild born too. But if not, you'll still be my little girls." Their dad smiled at them.

The next day, Madeleine and Ariel awoke early to prepare for the ceremony. The ceremony was to be held in the center of the village. They wore their finest dresses and put their hair in buns. Their father wore a suit and their mother also wore a dress. Families of the children began to slowly enter; each one bringing animals of their own to the ceremony. The Greencloaks arrived after everyone was there. There were no seats or stage but the ceremony was held on the dirt. Two female Greencloaks arrived with a bottle of Nectar.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," They went straight to the ceremony without much of an introduction. "Please put your hands together for the five children that will be drinking from the nectar!"

The children had all reached age thirteen in this month. They were categorized by last name so Ariel and Madeleine were last.

The first boy went up to drink the nectar, no animal appeared. The second girl went up the drink the nectar, nothing happened. None of the children summoned an animal. Some kids left crying, others just had extremely disappointed faces.

"Madeleine Rose." One of the Greencloaks called from a list they held.

Madeleine was completely scared at this point. She didn't want to leave the stage with tears in her eyes and no animal beside her, but if that was how it was going to be, she accepted her fate with a nod and walked up to the Greencloaks with her head held high.

"Here." The lady with the Nectar seemed very friendly. She had a ring tailed lemur sitting on her shoulder. She passed the bottle to Madeleine.

Madeleine looked down at the glass bottle. The golden liquid moved slowly and clung to the edges of the glass. Eyes closed, she poured one sip of the Nectar into her mouth. Her eyes widened with delight. It tasted just like the delicious plums she had found in the jungle the other day! She took the bottle away from her lips. She remembered where she was and her stomach dropped. Is she Wildborn?

Madeleine suddenly felt dizzy. She thought that it was her nerves getting to her but then she felt a drop of rain on her forehead. She held her head as the rain slowly began to get faster; eventually pelting the crowd. After a few seconds the rain went away just as fast as it came, and in front of Madeleine arose a green light. The crowd, the Greencloaks, Ariel, and Madeleine held their hands to their eyes so they wouldn't get blinded.

The light faded away and the sun came back. Madeleine was the first to see the beautiful animal in front of her.

Standing where the light was was a deep orange tiger! Vivid black striped lined it's body with grace. The tiger was a bit smaller than most. Madeleine immediately knew what kind of tiger it was. It was a Malayan tiger! She had a book on tigers and how to distinguish them. It's light pink nose sniffed the air as it's golden green eyes looked around. They quickly met Madeleine's and the tiger slowly padded towards the girl; the crowd watching with joy. The tiger stopped in front of her and sat down. Madeleine some how knew that she wanted to be petted. Madeleine confidently placed a hand gently on her head.

"My Spirit Animal's name is Theaja! She is a Malayan Tiger!" She shouted to the crowd. The crowd was astonished but slowly began to clap at the wonder of the girl and the cat.

"We still have one more child!" The Greencloak shouted to the crowd. "Ariel Rose, please come up."

Madeleine was ushered by the Greencloak to stand to the side instead of in the crowd like the other children. Theaja followed her intently, her tail swinging up.

Ariel took one sip from the bottle and handed it back to the lady. She didn't seem dizzy as Madeleine did, but the sun beat down even harder than usual; so hard as to where one of the trees caught on fire and had to be put out. The sun quickly went back to it's regular self, but a yellow light appeared in front of Ariel. The light was extremely bright, just as bright as Madeleine's. The crowd, still dazed from the fire, tried not to look directly into the light. Out of the light came a magnificent, golden lion! It was bigger than Theaja but was obviously male from the large mane. His honey brown eyes looked at Ariel. Ariel looked very surprised and approached the lion. The lion met her halfway and she touched its head.

"His name is Jengo!" Ariel announced to the crowd.

"Congrats! Both of you are Wildborn!" The Greencloak said the Madeleine and Ariel.

As the crowd clapped, Madeleine looked to Theaja. The tiger looked worried. Her tail began to twitch. Her ears swiveled to aim behind the crowd. Her eyes narrowed onto something and she began to growl.

"What's wrong Theaja?" Madeleine began to sense something too. She looked closer to find a person in the bush. Theaja roared to silence the crowd.

The crowd went dead silent and Theaja didn't back down. Madeleine couldn't see what they were doing until they stepped into the light. They were readying a bow. They aimed it straight at Ariel.

"Ariel run!" Madeleine shouted to her sister. Ariel noticed the man too late and the arrow was fired. Before the arrow could hit her, Jengo pounced with lightning reflexes and pushed his human out of the way.

The arrow pierced Jengo's chest and the mighty lion fell to the ground with a pained roar.

Ariel was stunned but realized what happened.

"JENGO!" She rushed to his side with panic in her eyes. "Someone get a doctor!" She held the limp wildcat in her arms as the crowd screamed and ran off into different directions.

"The nearest doctor is in the next town! We can't get him there in time!" The Greencloaks rushed to Ariel's side to tend to Jengo.

Madeleine and Theaja saw everything. They both ran after the man who had disappeared into the Jungle. She knew the jungle like the back of her hand.

The girl could already feel her new strength welling inside of her. She could run faster, quieter, and with a stronger push off. The man was close in sight as the tiger got even closer to the man, teeth bared.

Theaja managed to sink her teeth into his leg. He yelped in pain and tumbled into a tree. Theaja quickly pinned him down and roared a throaty roar in his face.

Madeleine spoke with a harsh tone. "I will kill you now if you do not explain what you just did back there." Theaja had her teeth around his neck, ready to bite down.

The man didn't respond.

"SPEAK!" Theaja tightened up.

"ALRIGHT alright!" The man had a very young voice. He was wearing a black cloak with many pocket and a broken bow by his side. It must have snapped when he fell. "I am a Spirit Person."

"What in Uraza's name is that?"

"You scum don't deserve to have animals at your control! We are the people who don't have Spirit Animals. Who aren't 'special' like you idiots! We want equality! No one should ever get a damned Spirit Animal! It's unfair!"

To Madeleine, the man sounded crazy. "How many of you are there?"

"A whole bunch. Enough to kill all of you stupid Greencloaks!"

Everything was quiet as Madeleine thought.

"Kill him Theaja."

"No WAIT-"

Theaja clamped down with her strong jaws and the man went limp.

"Thank you." The girl spoke to the tiger. "Now let's go check up on Jengo. I hope he's okay."

The pair ran back to the village to find Jengo not moving and Ariel still crying over him.

"Is Jengo alive?" Madeleine asked the Greencloak.

"Barely. He isn't going to last much longer." Strained breaths could be heard from the huge lion.

"Theaja, I know we just met, but is there anything you can do?"

Theaja nodded and walked up to Jengo. She eyed the large dying cat before gently wrapping her body around him. She caringly licked his wound clean as if he were her own cub. Her body relaxed around him, as if in an embrace, Jengo's body loosened up and his breathing became less almost looked like he was sleeping.

"Thank you, Theaja." The girl smiled calmly at the tiger.

"Quickly, Ariel," The Greencloak with the lemur spoke. "We must get to the nearest city. Theaja's healing will only work for so long."

"Got it. Mind if I get some help carrying him?" Ariel looked towards the Greecloak.

"Sure." The Greencloak that didn't have her Spirit Animal out touched her arm and out came a large elephant. "You're lucky I came along."

The crowd that had disappeared slowly came back to the scene. One by one they helped Jengo; whether it was getting some spare meat or helping put him on the elephant's back. Madeleine and Ariel's mother and father helped too.

As Jengo, Ariel, and the Greencloak rode on the elephant, Madeleine and Theaja strided near by next to the Greencloak with the lemur, and together they rode to the city.


End file.
